Thursday, May 26, 2011

Eddie, it's just like I told you today. You're going to have to get rid of your Zoom and get an iPad. It's the only way you'll be successful as the new BIM Manager at your construction firm.

For the rest of you, if you don't realize how powerful it is to have the portability of all of your documents on an iPad, you just don't realize how much time you're wasting.

Kudos to Autodesk for recently releasing Buzzsaw for the iPad. I can click on a dwg file and it opens right up in AutoCAD WS. Then, I can measure, annotate, cloud, add lines, etc, and save or send the dwg to someone else.

It's not about a specific product that helps you make the blueprints, it's about getting that data quickly in the field. I wish I had these tools when I used to be a general contractor. Mabye I wouldn't have left construction if iPads were around back then.

PS. I've created a class on using the iPad to help you access your documents faster and easier. Contact me if you're interested in that.

As I'm writing this, I'm downloading McDwiff. It's $6.99 on the App Store.
It even has a Dropbox link built in. I wish they would add a Sugarsync link. I solved that problem by getting a free Dropbox account and putting it inside a Sugarsync folder. That way I can easily use Sugarsync and get the files I need from Dropbox only iPad apps.

Ok, that was painful. Couldn't remember my Dropbox login info. Now I'm transferring some DWFs to the iPad via Dropbox. 2D files work great on here and even work with mulitple sheet sets. Goodbye paper drawings!

Source: http://dwf.blogs.com/beyond_the_paper/2011/05/dwf-file-viewing-comes-to-the-ipad.html
Judging from the amount of email we receive requesting the ability to view DWF files on your mobile devices, we think you'll be interested in learning about an iPad® app called McDwiff, by third-party developer Austin Silver Software.
Using the Autodesk Freewheel Web service, which requires an Internet connection, McDwiff enables you to open, view, convert, and print 2D and 3D DWF files on your iPad. (Of particular interest to some may be the app's Dropbox integration.)
For more information about the app, visit the McDwiff website. And if you try the app, be sure to leave a comment here to let us know how viewing DWF files on your iPad works for you.
McDwiff (and the Autodesk Freewheel Web service). Just another way Autodesk enables our customers to go beyond the paper!